Video Animation Tips for the Aggressive Artist

by Kelly Richardson
Animation School Review Columnist

The boundaries of video animation are constantly being tested and redrawn. As cutting-edge technologies turn computers into virtual easels, artists and animators are able to produce some pretty incredible creations.

Video Animation Tips: Creation

Whether you’re new to the animation game or a seasoned veteran, you can never have too many tricks in your bag. There are a variety of ways that you can communicate a message visually without losing something in the translation. Here are some basic ideas to keep in mind as you begin the build-out portion of your project.

• Save Early, Often. Especially if you’re working with Flash video animation software, make sure you repeatedly save files to avoid losing your work.
• Mix and Match. Try combining flat color vectors with photographic bitmaps to give your work texture, versatility, and differentiation throughout.
• Don’t Overdo. When you’re in the creation process, it’s easy to go a bit overboard. Remember that your audience can only absorb so much.

Video Animation Tips: Presentation

On the presentation side, try to imagine your audience in the process of viewing your video animation. This will get you thinking and clicking like a true surfer.

• No Waiting. Always have an alternative animation during loading times.
• Small Files. Smaller video animation files will have a much shorter download.
• Get Feedback. Find out from colleagues and friends how they interacted with your creations.

Keeping these aggressive yet sensible video animation tips in mind will improve your work as a whole, and develop you as a true animation artist.

About the Author

Kelly Richardson covers the local education and technology scenes in major cities across the country. His articles appear in educational journals, periodicals, and e-zines.

Day of Silence (can you for one day lose your voice for those who will never have one)
Since January 22, 1973 over 48,000,000 babies have had their voices silenced through surgical abortion in this nation. Children in their mother’s womb have been dehumanized. Over 4,000 children…

Voicey Awards Finalists Announced at Voices.com
Get ready to hit the red carpet of voice overs with the Voicey Awards finalists, some of the finest voice talent in the world. [PR.com - February 16, 2007]

Behind the Scenes

The Red Masque/Mask

The original Red Masque was Richard Gillespie, the cousin of Commissioner William Gillespie. Richard was a soldier of fortune who traveled the world. In one of his escapades in the China Sea he acquired a mysterious red cloth that he was compelled to wear. Tying it about his head he heard voices, the voices of all who wore the cloth before. It’s previous owners were all seekers of justice. Richard made a mask of the cloth and returned to Victory City and helped his cousin gain appointment as commissioner by exposing corruption in the Steel Town government. William, grudgingly at first, aided his cousin.

Within a year William had himself donned the mask a few times at need. The cousins resembled each other enough to convince people there was only the single Masque. In addition to giving the wearer mental powers the mask allowed greater agility and strength. Richard died in a car crash in 1951. Gillespie would don the mask several times over the following decades. But realized the mask was causing him to become increasingly violent.

In 1999 Gillespie engaged in his final disastrous run in with the police while trying to save Sharon Longacre from being assaulted in Hero Park. Diving into the Canal he contracted pneumonia. Sharon Longacre was an aspiring advertising executive who was out jogging when she had her run in with the Masque. Gillespie was dying and decided that saving Longacre meant destiny had marked her as his successor. He had the mask sent to her.

The mask she received in the mail mystified Sharon. Eventually she wore it to a Halloween party. The voice of the mask explained its past to her and after a few weeks of training she became the new Red Mask. She was determined to restore the vigilante?s reputation. She has felt the compulsion of the mask to resort to lethal force but resisted it so far. This may in part be because she is the first female wearer of the mask.

 The Gillespie mansion was untenanted after William died. In 2001 Arthur Chester, a petty thief broke in. Wandering the dusty halls and searching for something valuable and light enough to steal he was drawn to locked trunk in Richard?s room. Arthur broke the lock and found a blood red suit, possibly made of the same cloth as the mask.

 Chester took the cloth and returned to his digs in the Bowery section. In the next weeks he compulsively sewed more bits of cloth onto the suit to create the Jackalent costume. Chester was a failed actor and a thief mainly out of necessity. After he began working on the Jackalent identity he began speed reading books from the local library and working out as much as possible.

 He found a job in a small theatre company as a lighting technician. He still aspires to an acting career but it pays the bills. Chester chose the name Jackalent after a straw man that was a traditional Lenten decoration in England. During Lent people would throw stones at the jackalent to represent them casting off their sins. Chester became a magnet for the dispossessed in the Bowery, people who were wronged and could not trust the authorities for one reason or another.

 Bomber

A number of super humans were born after 1969. This is due to Bomber sleeping around after his wife?s death. It is an irony that a second string super (at best) has fathered and in some cases grandfathered a number of heroes.

 Background:

The Shadow, and his more violent peer, the Spider, inspired the Red Masque. His mask  is similar to  !MPACT Comics? Black Hood. I haven?t figured out exactly whether the mask itself is sentient or an anchor for the spirits of its wearers. It is very old and certainly tainted by dark forces.

 I drew on DC?s Wildcat for the Bomber, a man out of his own time who is still fighting the good fight. Bomber isn?t a very successful hero but he?s having too much fun to let anyone tell him to stop.

 For the Jackalent I turned to the Suppressed Transmission Column in Pyramid Magazine. It?s a great source for all kinds of occult weirdness. The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh, also known as the Rev. Dr. Sin, inspired me to create a scary hero. There aren?t enough of those IMO.

 Vengeance is actually a Dhampyre, a son born to a living woman impregnated by a vampire. Yes, there are vampires in this setting. They rule Valknia, an eastern nation more or less openly. Vengeance is somewhat impeded by bright light due to his sensitive eyes. He can regenerate wounds almost immediately and gain super strength when he drinks human blood. That compulsion is growing daily.

Voice Talent for Jingles and Songs Available at Voice123 (voice123.com)
Voice talent seekers can find professional voice artists to record jingles and songs for any type of voiceover project. [SANEPR 23 January, 2007]

Voice123 Is Searching For Beta Testers
Voice123, the online voice over marketplace, is reaching the Beta stage in the development of the new Voice123 website. [SANEPR 15 March, 2007]

Ian Lofty Fulton Male voice over artist – Sydney, Australia
Lofty is one of Australia’s most sort after voice over actors. He has a deep, authoritative tone that’s perfect for straight, retail, soft sell, hard sell, promos and corporate scripts. He’s the man if you require impact.

Episode 6 – 05.17.07
It’s here, the latest episode of the Full Moon Show featuring: “I Want Your Job!” with Voice Actor David Kaye, a 100% *New AND More Incognito* Mystery Guest, and the inside track on “Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction” development news!

Manchester s Photography, Art Cultural Social Events Group (Manchester)
Camera Culture Manchester Manchester s Photography Art Cultural Social Events Group Meet like minded people be creative Organised by a Professional Photographer an Artist helping you improve your skills and make new friends. For example on regular photography meet ups or art walks you could improve your skills with that new digital camera or have you always wanted to sketch or paint in the countryside with a group of other creative adults. See the website for a diary of creative and cultural social events for adults of any age or creative experience. w.cameracultureuk.com or contact Alex Jerman on info cameracultureuk.com 0161 2487980 or 07946541020 Your first event free Photography by Alex Jerman w.alexjermanphotography.com Artwork by Mandy Pearks subject to copyright

On The Real

With the relaunching of Air America, On The Real expands and reinvents it’s programming with more contributors and the most thought provoking chatter on radio.  Stay tuned and be sure to podcast the show…..

Individual voices in agreement create a harmony which bespeaks an age. This is that age and On The Real is giving voice to it.

Bob Michaels; Voice Talent, Narrator, Announcer, Voice-Overs
Bob Michaels is a Dallas, Texas-based voice talent; a narrator, voice actor, and announcer providing voice-overs for electronic and broadcast media.

The Need for Speed: Voices at Your Service

Greetings, When you’re in a bind and need voices, where do you turn? When the timing is critical and a message needs to get out, who comes to your aid? This is an open invitation to those of you who have not yet found a home to locate reliable voice talents. InteractiveVoices is the #1 destination for you to connect with voice-over professionals who will be your go to talents in time of need. We give you the tools to connect with talent who have the quickest turnaround time in the industry, often delivering finished products within hours of hiring them. While some agencies may take days to arrange a voice-over with several middlemen in between and higher costs, InteractiveVoices makes it easy for you to contact talent directly in real time and get responses quickly – saving you time and money. Professional voice talent are ready to record your vital messages 24 hours a day and are all conveniently located at one website. Now, that’s encouraging! Timing and Communication are everything in this fast paced, on demand world. Liberate yourself from the rat race and take advantage of the best voice talent service on the planet. Go direct, pay direct, receive direct… There’s no better way. 3 Ways to Find Voices Fast

1. Post a voice-over Job
2. Browse the Featured Talent categories
3. Search the voice talent database

If you’re reading this article and needed your voice-over recorded ‘yesterday’, here’s a link to quickly post your voice-over job and see results within minutes of approval. To your success! Stephanie

New VoiceoverTalent for Television Ads at Voice123.com
The Voice123 voice talent database grows and showcases the talent of new voice actors for television ads and commercials. [SANEPR 2 April, 2007]

Meet Dave Adams the voice of Mojo Sam
Let’s take a break from birdwatching. I would like to introduce everyone to Dave Adams. Dave is an Philadelphia artist and a radio voice actor that I have been listening to for over 30 years. For those of you that are familiar with ZBS media then you know who I am writing [...]

Lecture 4 – The Voice
First assignment, the radio voice – what kinds of voices can we hear on radio in Australia today? How do radio presenters use their voices?

Ace Buddy
This program can read any text in any window. It can also play plain text files. Ace Buddy has a WinAmp-style user interface with dozens of voices, characters and skins.

VoiceProfessionals.com Voiceover Talent
This talented group of Actors and voiceover artists from the U.S. Northwest can be contacted through the website for work on your televsion, radio or other voice project.

Voices.com and Voice123: The Verdict is In, Pro Voice Actors Unite
In a recent poll involving over 10,000 voice actors, an overwhelming majority of respondents said that they prefer Voices.com over voice123 as their voice marketplace. [PR.com - March 05, 2007]

Advertising Space Available In The Voice123 Industry Directory
The online voice over and media industry directory offers adverting space for companies to promote their products and services. [SANEPR 13 April, 2007]

Voices.com Presents at the 2007 Canadian Venture Forum
David Ciccarelli, CEO of Voices.com, will present Voices.com, The Voice Marketplace, at a national showcase event to top tier North American venture capitalists and angel investors. [PR.com - February 27, 2007]

Amir Srivihasan

Actually I have the Nextup newsreader also with the paul voice from Neospeech. I think it’s nott the same. I thought it was familiar, but I put the same text in both their website and the nextup textloud program that I have. The processing was different. it seems like the Bluegrind one was more accurate, specially with the dates and time and the website addresses and some language differences.
The voice is also slightly different to me when I listen to them side by side.

Just as a sidenote, I have also tried the AT&T voices, and after a while they all sound the same, but I think this bluegrnd one is differnt than the nextup one or the neospeech one.

Google Radio Ads Voices Available at Voices.com
Google’s New Radio Ads Platform Simplifies Media Buying While Raising the Profile of Online Marketplaces Such as Voices.com [PR.com - December 14, 2006]

Manchester s Photography, Art Cultural Social Events Group (Manchester)
Camera Culture Manchester Manchester s Photography Art Cultural Social Events Group Meet like minded people be creative Organised by a Professional Photographer an Artist helping you improve your skills and make new friends. For example on regular photography meet ups or art walks you could improve your skills with that new digital camera or have you always wanted to sketch or paint in the countryside with a group of other creative adults. See the website for a diary of creative and cultural social events for adults of any age or creative experience. w.cameracultureuk.com or contact Alex Jerman on info cameracultureuk.com 0161 2487980 or 07946541020 Your first event free Photography by Alex Jerman w.alexjermanphotography.com Artwork by Mandy Pearks subject to copyright

Online Instruction On How To Set Up A Recording Studio At Home
Voice123 and its related websites offer resources and help for voice over actors to set up their own recording studios. [SANEPR 24 April, 2007]

Advertising Agencies to Benefit from the Spring ’07 Release of Voices.com
Agencies in search of top tier voice over talent and easy project management from hiring to billing have a friend in Voices.com. [PR.com - May 05, 2007]

New Horror Movie, Film, and Video Voice Over Actors at Voice123
Voice123, the online voice over marketplace, new features professional voice over actors for any type of horror movie, film, or video. [SANEPR 16 April, 2007]

More panel pops from Instantaneous
More pics courtesy of Simon Grey fom the Instantenous Exhibition @ the Grace Emily.

You can sort of see people’s art in the background.

Jesse – Pulp Fiction Comics website comic reviewer

Erin McGregor – artist and Harley Quinn

Kamahl – artiste

Leon – non-writer and musician (don’t take that as non-musician, becuase he IS a musician)

Matt – Star Wars Character

Vincent (tho his piece had no dialogue nor caption – and according to THE RULES not a comic panel, he did bring a cute lady friend which makes it okay)

Stephen Hall – I think i know this guy but maybe not

Stephen (tho i swear that this is dave hodson – but it could mean I’ve been calling Stephen, Dave for 4 years now. i think i might start calling everyone ‘mate’ and ‘buddy’.)

Voice Actor Cast List Transformers
Optimus – Peter Cullen
Megatron – Hugo Weaving
Bumblebee – Mark Ryan
Ironhide – Jess Harnell
Barricade – Jess Harnell
Ratchet – Robert Foxworth
Bonecrusher – Jimmie Wood
Jazz – Darius McCrary
Starscream – Charlie Adler
Frenzy – Reno Wilson

From the Sydney Press Conference.

Source: tfw2005.com

Tags Perublogs : voces, actores, transformers, casting.
Tags Blogalaxia : voces, casting, transformers, movie.

Voice Over Experts Podcast Hits the Scene at Voices.com

Voices.com reaches out with Voice Over Experts, a new educational podcast packed with nuggets of wisdom from voice over coaches around the world.

Advertising Agencies to Benefit from the Spring ’07 Release of Voices.com
Agencies in search of top tier voice over talent and easy project management from hiring to billing have a friend in Voices.com. [PR.com - May 05, 2007]

San Francisco YouTube Pick of the Day
San Fran Voice trolls the online world to find video clips from and about San Francisco. Check the archives to see the ones that you’ve missed.  Posted here every morning at 9. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UBL_3kaGvO4   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uAnHkR1Axj8   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcJwLLAgD-8 Explanation: Today’s YouTube picks are all about Flag Day (since that’s today). One of the jokes here is that you know you’re from SF [...]

I can hear it in their VERY VOICES!
Mrs. A and I were at the circ desk when the phone rang and I answered it. A lady on the line explained that we had been holding a book for her and she wanted to make sure we still were, because she knew her hold time was up soon. We still had her book and I told her she still had a day to pick it up.

“I’ll be right over to get it,” she said.

As I hung up the phone, I turned to Mrs. A and announced, “She will not have her library card when she arrives. I can hear it in her voice.”

Mrs. A laughed and continued processing inter”liberry” loan requests.

Ten minutes later, the patron from the phone arrived and mentioned that she was the person who’d just called. While she browsed our new fiction, I fetched her held book and set it upon the counter, awaiting the inevitable. Sure enough, she came over and said, “Am I ready to go?”

“Actually, I need to check it out to you first. Can I scan your library card?”

“You mean you… oh,” she said. “I need the card?”

“Yes, ma’am,” I said sweetly.

“You can’t just look me up by…”

“No, ma’am,” I said even more sweetly, this time with a smile.

She seemed to debate something internally for a couple of seconds, then gestured to the door and gave the international sign language for I’ll be right back, I have to go get my pocketbook out of the car. When she was out the door, I turned to Mrs. A.

“What did I say?” I asked. “I tell you, I can hear it in their VERY VOICES!”

Mrs. A was suitably impressed.

I was even more correct than I had originally thought, though. Back our patron came, pocketbook in hand. She dug through it for nearly a minute searching for her card. Occasionally she would mutter, “I bet she still has it,” and “Ohhhhh, she didn’t give it back.” Finally, she gave me a pitiful look and explained that she was pretty sure she’d loaned her card to her daughter, but the kid hadn’t returned it. She then blinked hopefully and her eyes darted to my computer, using the international eye-sign-language for You could just look my name up in your computer, couldn’t you?

“I can hold it for you here,” I said, my own voice straining at the known boundaries of sweetness.

The patron left, sans book.

Twenty minutes later, she returned. Turns out she’d only left her card at work.

Guide To Ensure Payments For Online Voice Over Work Released
Voice123, the online voiceover marketplace, published guidelines and advice for voice talents to ensure getting paid for voice over work. [SANEPR 28 March, 2007]

KOREAN voice over talents
Recording studios in Canoga Park looking for native Korean speakers for voice over projects. Experience in voice over/acting/TV/ radio a plus but not necessary.

Enjoy Yourself Tonight (Pt. 829)
Enjoy Yourself Tonight (Pt. 829)

So I just got a brief call from the founder of the DDR Club at University of Missouri, Kansas City. The reason he called is because he forgot the answer to the question of XotW (DWI EX of the Week). After that, he asked the whole club to say hi to me.

I just felt so great when I heard so many different voices saying “Hi, Terrence” on the background. It was loud that I needed to take my phone away from my ear for a few inches. And when I responded to them, I felt my voice was so weak compared to them.

Widening the base, amplifying the citizen voice
The primary season saw the beginning of a new kind of politics in Philadelphia, one that must be carefully nurtured if it is to grow. One facet of this new kind of politics is evident in the number and variety of mayoral and city council candidate forums held in virtually every neighborhood across the city and sponsored by a wide range of groups. Great Expectations sponsored by the University of Pennsylvania and the Philadelphia Inquirer was joined by the Next Great City sponsored by Philadelphia Future and the Next Mayor project sponsored by The Daily News, WHYY and the Committee of 70. Some others included two forums on education sponsored by Cross County Collaborative sponsored two forums on education and the 2007 Future Leaders Mayoral Forum sponsored by the Philadelphia Youth Network and the Greater Philadelphia Urban Affairs Coalition. In the midst of all this candidate talk, it is easy to miss something what is perhaps a more important kind of talk: citizen talk. Not citizens asking questions of the candidates, but citizens talking with each other about the issues and about the campaigns. The Great Expectations Project is the prime example of this brand of citizen talk. With more than 50 citizen forums in neighborhoods across the city (and two in the suburbs), it was one of the few projects in which citizens talking to citizens came before, and formed the basis of, citizen questions to the candidates. Why is this important? Why does this signal a change in politics in this great city? Think of politics in Philadelphia (or in any democracy) as a triangle ? a triangle in which each side represents a different kind of political actor ? one side representing elected and appointed officials, another representing professional stakeholders (such as developers or well funded special interest groups) and the base representing the citizen voice. In Philadelphia ?politics as usual? is like an isosceles triangle with two very long sides, but a short or narrow base. That is, the voice of citizens is often dwarfed by the voices of officials and professional stakeholders. And, if what we?ve heard in Great Expectation citizen-driven forums is accurate, citizens are tired of getting the short end. What they want, and what Great Expectations has helped create, is for this isosceles triangle to grow into an equilateral triangle ? a triangle in which citizens and the citizen voice is equal in strength to that of officials and professional stakeholders. – Harris Sokoloff

Voices.com Makes Giant Splash at VOICE 2007 in Las Vegas, NV
Major Sponsor Voices.com heated up Vegas sands with charisma and good old-fashioned fun at the Voice Over International Creative Experience (VOICE).

Political Ad Voice Talent

I heard a great piece on NPR yesterday with two guys who do a ton of attack ad voice-overs.  Their normal voices were similar to their TV voices, but they both used subtle changes in pacing and breathing that transformed them from normal deep-voiced guys into all-knowing voices of serious condemnation.  Using those voices, they then read various nursery rhymes and turned them into attack ads.  Funny stuff.

There’s a woman who does a lot of the GOP ads here in Minnesota, and I’m sure lots of other places, too.  It’s hard to describe what she does, but it’s this weird sort of hiss or lisp or cutting off of the last part of a word.  It so perfectly captures the prudish, pious disgust that motives certain parts of the conservative frame of mind.  I’d love to know if that’s really how that woman talks or if she actually uses that voice intentionally.  She’s either a master of her trade or an actual pious, prudish woman full of disgust.

Both the guys on NPR said they really had to check their own politics at the door.  I suppose that’s true in a lot of jobs, and we all do check our politics at the door in a variety of situations, such as a Libertarian swingers party.  I have to think if you were a hard-core partisan it would be hard to not have second thoughts about literally being the voice of your opposition.  I’m not sure I could do it, although it’s entirely possible that getting paid like premium voice talent could influence my thinking on the subject.

Jimmy O’Byrne – Actor, Musician, Voice Overs, Talking Books,…
Jimmy O’Byrne is a versatile actor, musician, voice over artist, and has recently moved into the world of talking books. As a producer/director for many productions, Jimmy is well versed in behind the scenes

Voice123 (voice123.com) Announces Advertising and Marketing Opportunities
Voice123 starts to sell advertising space on their website and offers marketing partnerships for the voice over industry. [SANEPR 16 January, 2007]

SpeechMagician
This software builds the audio files for your mobile devices, such as the real voice MMS, color rings and truetones for mobile phones. It also builds the dubbing voices for your videos and movies and the asides for your PowerPoint and other presentations. It can attach the voice indexes and labels to your songs in the CD and protable MP3 player. It reads the text for you as all the text to speech software can do. Over 10 languages and 20 voices supported.

First Online Voice-Changing Clinic Opens
Screaming Bee opens a new voice-changing clinic for online gamers. The very first clinic of its kind provides customers with advice for improving their online voices. It also provides real-time technical support and education.

Cum invocarem : soprano, alto, tenor, bass & continuo / Giovanni Antonio Rigatti ; edited by Dennis Collins.
Author: Rigatti, Giovanni Antonio, ca. 1613-1648.
Publisher: [Dundee] : Prima la musica!, c2004.
Subjects:Sacred vocal quartets with continuo., Choruses, Sacred (Mixed voices, 4 parts) with continuo., Psalms (Music) 4th Psalm.

Miserere : for SATB,SATB & organ continuo / Leonardo Leo ; edited by T.J. Martino.
Author: Leo, Leonardo, 1694-1744.
Publisher: New York : Mannheim Editions, c2003.
Subjects:Choruses, Sacred (Mixed voices, 8 parts) with organ., Psalms (Music) 51st Psalm.

Giovanni da Palestrina
With works that are often regarded as the perfect models of Renaissance polyphony, Italian composer Giovanni da Palestrina had his first major appointment as the organist of San Agapito, Palestrina. After the election of Pope Julius III, he was appointed maestro di cappella of the Cappella Giulia in Rome, where he wrote his first works. Well-regarded in Rome’s musical society, he shuffled through posts at two of Rome’s greatest churches, St. John Lateran (1555-’60) and San Maria Maggiore (1561-’66). During the 1560s and 1570s Palestrina’s fame and influence was bolstered by the wide distribution of his published works. His most famous mass, Missa Papae Marcelli, is said to have been composed to satisfy the requirements for musical cogency and textual intelligibility during the Counter-Reformation. After marrying his second wife, a wealthy fur merchant’s widow, he enjoyed his most productive years at the end of his life free from financial concern. He died in Rome in 1594. A prolific composer of masses, motets and sundry sacred works, he assimilated and refined his predecessors’ polyphonic techniques to produce a “seamless” texture based on balanced voices and a sense of nobility and restraint that made an unquestionable influence on Renaissance music. – Nate Cavalieri

Amir Srivihasan

Actually I have the Nextup newsreader also with the paul voice from Neospeech. I think it’s nott the same. I thought it was familiar, but I put the same text in both their website and the nextup textloud program that I have. The processing was different. it seems like the Bluegrind one was more accurate, specially with the dates and time and the website addresses and some language differences.
The voice is also slightly different to me when I listen to them side by side.

Just as a sidenote, I have also tried the AT&T voices, and after a while they all sound the same, but I think this bluegrnd one is differnt than the nextup one or the neospeech one.

Voices.com Podcast, VOX Talk, Introduces Weekly Correspondents
The VOX Talk podcast, hosted by Stephanie Ciccarelli of Voices.com, recently welcomed two weekly correspondents, professional voice talents Julie Williams and Adam Fox, to host segments on the VOX Talk Podcast. [PR.com - January 30, 2007]

Deep Space Voices Add-On For MorphVOX Voice Changer
Be the first to be transformed into a fighting Cyborg, a scary Mutant,
or a stoic Android.
This add-on is especially meant to enhance online role-play. It allows
gamers to get into character better by providing quality voices to
match their in-game avatar. The Deep Space Voices add-on has the
following voices: male/female android, cyborg, male/female mutant, and

Voiceover Talent for Recordings in Spanish on Voice123.com
Searching for and hiring voice over actors and producers for projects in Spanish has become a quick and easy task. [SANEPR 5 March, 2007]

Political Ad Voice Talent

I heard a great piece on NPR yesterday with two guys who do a ton of attack ad voice-overs.  Their normal voices were similar to their TV voices, but they both used subtle changes in pacing and breathing that transformed them from normal deep-voiced guys into all-knowing voices of serious condemnation.  Using those voices, they then read various nursery rhymes and turned them into attack ads.  Funny stuff.

There’s a woman who does a lot of the GOP ads here in Minnesota, and I’m sure lots of other places, too.  It’s hard to describe what she does, but it’s this weird sort of hiss or lisp or cutting off of the last part of a word.  It so perfectly captures the prudish, pious disgust that motives certain parts of the conservative frame of mind.  I’d love to know if that’s really how that woman talks or if she actually uses that voice intentionally.  She’s either a master of her trade or an actual pious, prudish woman full of disgust.

Both the guys on NPR said they really had to check their own politics at the door.  I suppose that’s true in a lot of jobs, and we all do check our politics at the door in a variety of situations, such as a Libertarian swingers party.  I have to think if you were a hard-core partisan it would be hard to not have second thoughts about literally being the voice of your opposition.  I’m not sure I could do it, although it’s entirely possible that getting paid like premium voice talent could influence my thinking on the subject.

Amir Srivihasan

Actually I have the Nextup newsreader also with the paul voice from Neospeech. I think it’s nott the same. I thought it was familiar, but I put the same text in both their website and the nextup textloud program that I have. The processing was different. it seems like the Bluegrind one was more accurate, specially with the dates and time and the website addresses and some language differences.
The voice is also slightly different to me when I listen to them side by side.

Just as a sidenote, I have also tried the AT&T voices, and after a while they all sound the same, but I think this bluegrnd one is differnt than the nextup one or the neospeech one.

Miserere : for SATB,SATB & organ continuo / Leonardo Leo ; edited by T.J. Martino.
Author: Leo, Leonardo, 1694-1744.
Publisher: New York : Mannheim Editions, c2003.
Subjects:Choruses, Sacred (Mixed voices, 8 parts) with organ., Psalms (Music) 51st Psalm.

Singer Needed For Full Time Pro Covers Band (Doncaster,South Yorkshire)
Singer Frontman required for very busy pro covers band based in South Yorkshire.We play venues like ButlinsBritish HolidaysJumpin JaksHotelsClubs etc Wide range of material from Robbie Williams to Green Day.This is a very established band of 10 years.Top managementLighting showPa etc.Great money paid.Very secure and stable position.This is a Full time position as we gig 3 5 nights a week.No egos in the band.Great atmosphere.We need someone with a great voice and a great character.

Bob Michaels; Voice Talent, Narrator, Announcer, Voice-Overs
Bob Michaels is a Dallas, Texas-based voice talent; a narrator, voice actor, and announcer providing voice-overs for electronic and broadcast media.

Voice123 Voice Acting Webinars Available in the Resource Center
Recordings of the online seminars for voice over talents are now available at the website’s resource center. [SANEPR 20 April, 2007]

“The Bride in the Attic” – a DoomBuggies.com Halloween special
ANAHEIM, CA – The mythic, haunting history of Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion will finally be told by voice talent Kat Cressida, the artist whose performance as the high-tech “Black Widow Bride” was added in early 2006 to the Disneyland version of the Haunted Mansion attraction as part of park-wide enhancements made to the attractions during Disneyland’s 50th anniversary festivities.

Disney aficionados will be pleased to hear that this is the first time that a telling of the “backstory” from the Haunted Mansion is presented being based on the story as it was told by the WED Enterprises “Imagineers” themselves back in the earliest days of the attraction’s existence. For decades, Haunted Mansion fans have told tales and myths of the Mansion’s storied history, with little more than anecdotal evidence to back their claims. Cressida’s telling of the story will be pulled directly from her childhood conversations with her father, who worked for Disneyland’s PR Department, and also worked directly with the original Imagineers who created this famed attraction.

“Dad was a graphic artist and ‘marketing-meister’ who worked closely with Disneyland in the early ’70s, so he had come in contact with many of the Imagineers who had crafted the attraction,” Cressida explains. “[While waiting in line for the ride,] he loved to ask me, ‘Why is the Mansion so neat and pretty if it’s called the Haunted Mansion?’ He’d ask, ‘Do you see that? Do you know what this is? Do you know why that’s there??’, which led to a grand unfolding of this tale as we inched our way towards the turnstiles.”

Curious? Well, be certain to visit DoomBuggies.com on Halloween day, 2006, to hear the story of “The Bride in the Attic” for yourself! The story will be streaming for free for one day only (and will then be available as a download for your digital music library for 99 cents.)

“Nuptial Doom: The Bride in the Attic”
A History of the Haunted Mansion… As Told by Kat Cressida

Adapted by John Starling

Written for Recording by John Starling & Kat Cressida

Recorded at the GRAMMY® Award-winning SoundWorks Studios, North Hollywood, California, on October 19, 2006

Recording mixed & produced by Jeff Sheridan

Sound effects courtesy of Walt Disney Records, from a new digital master of the original sounds of the Haunted Mansion

Special thanks to: Chris Goosman, (Walt Disney Imagineering), Tom Fitzgerald (Walt Disney Imagineering), Walt Disney Records, Brian Nefsky, (Theme Park Productions), Ned Lott, Howard Green (Walt Disney Studios), Tim Curtis (William Morris Agency), Jerry Beber… and a certain Pirate.

To view Kat Cressida’s extensive VO credits (including her work for other Disneyland attractions), visit KatCressida.com.

About DoomBuggies.com
DoomBuggies.com, a tribute to Disney’s Haunted Mansion attractions, has been called “exhaustively in-depth” by Variety Magazine, and has been named a Yahoo! Pick of the week, as well as a USA Today HotSite. The web site, which will celebrate its 9th anniversary on Halloween, features a rich tapestry of history, stories, secrets, interviews, and multimedia offerings that enable visitors to both re-live their memories of the Haunted Mansion and enhance future trips through the ride by arming themselves with insight and understanding of the attraction. The web site also features a large and active message-board community of fans of the Haunted Mansion.

Voices.com Makes Giant Splash at VOICE 2007 in Las Vegas

Major Sponsor Voices.com heated up Vegas sands with charisma and good old-fashioned fun at the Voice Over International Creative Experience (VOICE).

Voices in the Dark
I feel weak, famished, done…

What am I doing here? Where am I?

Oh, if only I could move my hands and legs! Voices, I can hear voices, strange and familiar. I know that voice. Whose’s it?

Dark, it is dark here. If only I could open my eyes!

25 ways to get publicity and traffic to your web site
I subscribe to a fantastic e-zine called The Publicity Hound written by Joan Stewart. In each week’s issue, she posts a question to “help this hound”, and the question this week was from another voice talent who wanted to know how to drive traffic to his web site. I answered with 20 suggestions on Joan’s blog but am including my answer here these ideas may help other people. Also, I am adding 5 more ideas that I didn’t include in my original answer. As another voice-over talent, many newcomers to the industry ask me the same question. I have written essays on my blog in which I point out that voice-over is a business that requires a marketing plan. Like any business owner, the talent should determine where s/he fits in the marketplace and develop a marketing plan that targets the primary prospects on a steady and consistent basis. Numerous ways exist to contact the prospects and depend on a person’s time, budget and creativity. If the goal is simply to drive traffic to a web site, obviously, getting a link to your site published in a popular e-zine like The Publicity Hound will do the trick!

Missa Introduxit me rex in cellam vinariam : Patrem and Sanctus only.
Publisher: Praha : Department of Music History. Institute of Ethnology. Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, c2006.
Subjects:Masses Excerpts., Credo (Music), Sanctus (Music), Choruses, Sacred (Mixed voices, 4 parts), Unaccompanied.

In te Domine speravi : two tenors (or sopranos), bass & continuo / Giovanni Antonio Rigatti ; edited by Dennis Collins.
Author: Rigatti, Giovanni Antonio, ca. 1613-1648.
Publisher: [Dundee] : Prima la musica!, c2004.
Subjects:Sacred vocal trios with continuo., Choruses, Sacred (Mixed voices, 3 parts) with continuo., Psalms (Music) 31st Psalm.

Voice Actors to Benefit from Spring ’07 Release of Voices.com
Voice actors around the world are about discover a new reality that will make working online easier, more productive and liberating at Voices.com, the #1 Voice Over Marketplace. [PR.com - May 04, 2007]

Missa Introduxit me rex in cellam vinariam : Patrem and Sanctus only.
Publisher: Praha : Department of Music History. Institute of Ethnology. Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, c2006.
Subjects:Masses Excerpts., Credo (Music), Sanctus (Music), Choruses, Sacred (Mixed voices, 4 parts), Unaccompanied.

Lecture 4 – The Voice
First assignment, the radio voice – what kinds of voices can we hear on radio in Australia today? How do radio presenters use their voices?

Voice123 Bonded With the Voiceover Industry at the VOICE 2007 Event
Voice123 strengthened it relationships with the voice over community at recently concluded VoiceOver International Creative Experience in Las Vegas. [SANEPR 11 April, 2007]

What if Life Had a Soundtrack?
I received an e-mail this morning from my friend Stephanie Ciccarelli about something new they have put together at Voices.com. This is just one of the many reasons I love that website (and company!)- they are always trying to find new ways to attract clients- thus giving ‘us the voice actors’ new leads as well!

If you’ve ever wondered what a difference a good voice over can make for your project, check out ‘What if Life Had a Soundtrack?’.

These are just the first two videos they have put together, there are more on the way!

Meet Dave Adams the voice of Mojo Sam
Let’s take a break from birdwatching. I would like to introduce everyone to Dave Adams. Dave is an Philadelphia artist and a radio voice actor that I have been listening to for over 30 years. For those of you that are familiar with ZBS media then you know who I am writing [...]

Fifteen minutes on agni with voice

Filed under: Stories

Well, I downloaded the voice-enabled First Look viewer, and went out to one of the PG welcome areas to have a listen. Results were … mixed, to say the least.

A cluster of ten people were standing around talking. It only took a few minutes to identify six distinct issues. We could call them the big six, but that’s already taken, right?

Firstly, the Active Speakers window isn’t much help in a group. At any moment four or five people were lit up as speaking, but with several seconds delay between someone lighting up as ‘speaking’ and the voice arriving, it doesn’t really help much in identifying who’s voice you are hearing at any moment.

Second, someone is occasionally screaming or howling in the background. I’ve no idea who.

Third, every few words is fardling or spoony or abfold or snurble (Confused? See here). Who is swearing like a sailor? A few people, by the voices, but I can’t tell who. Never mind this is a PG sim. If you use SL for work, you’ll probably want to stay away from public gathering places if anyone in the office can hear your audio.

Fourth, crosstalk. Miss a word or two because someone is talking over the top of them, and you’ve got no idea what they said. People are going “What?” “What did you say?” “Can you repeat that?”

Fifth, I can hear everyone’s tv, radio, cd-player in the background. That doesn’t make it any easier.

Sixth, unlike all other sounds, voice doesn’t go away when you minimize SL.

Issues. There are definitely issues. Mostly, of course, they’re social issues, not technological ones.

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

San Francisco YouTube Pick of the Day
San Fran Voice trolls the online world to find video clips from and about San Francisco. Check the archives to see the ones that you’ve missed.  Posted here every morning at 9. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UBL_3kaGvO4   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uAnHkR1Axj8   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcJwLLAgD-8 Explanation: Today’s YouTube picks are all about Flag Day (since that’s today). One of the jokes here is that you know you’re from SF [...]

Ace Buddy
This program can read any text in any window. It can also play plain text files. Ace Buddy has a WinAmp-style user interface with dozens of voices, characters and skins.

Promo & Imaging Voice Talent Matt Williams Rocks the VOX Talk Podcast

Voices.com recently hired voice talent Matt Williams to record a new show intro for their podcast, VOX Talk, the #1 voice over industry podcast.

Voices.com Makes Giant Splash at VOICE 2007 in Las Vegas

Major Sponsor Voices.com heated up Vegas sands with charisma and good old-fashioned fun at the Voice Over International Creative Experience (VOICE).